California State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 3.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,351,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 50,359 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in PayPal were worth $61,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,042.70. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 10,612 shares of company stock valued at $484,534 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PYPL. Truist Financial upgraded shares of PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 price target on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group cut PayPal to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Clear Str upgraded PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $57.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.02. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $50.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.33.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.59%.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal reported second-quarter revenue of $8.68 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.38, exceeding estimates of $8.47 billion and $1.28, respectively. Management also raised its full-year profit outlook, citing improving branded checkout, Venmo growth and cost savings. PayPal’s Q2 Earnings Call Focuses on Checkout Stability
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted their price targets following the results, including JPMorgan to $65, Mizuho to $60, Citi to $61 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to $70, with KBW upgrading the shares to outperform. Analysts Boost PayPal Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is joining Binance’s bStocks initiative, potentially expanding access to tokenized equities for crypto users and creating additional payment or financial-services opportunities. PayPal Joins Binance bStocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Stripe and Advent International recently offered about $60.50 per share for PayPal. The board reportedly viewed the bid as too low, while CEO discussions indicated openness to potential deals but continued preference for an independent recovery. The speculation may provide valuation support but also highlights strategic uncertainty. PayPal CEO Signals Deal Openness
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, payable September 25 to shareholders of record September 4, offering an annualized yield of roughly 1%.
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided: Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, Baird, Canaccord and Wolfe Research retained neutral or hold ratings, while Goldman Sachs reportedly warned that stronger results have not resolved PayPal’s core branded-checkout and competitive-positioning challenges. Wall Street Divided on PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans: Frank Keller sold 732 shares and Chief Accounting Officer Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares. Because the transactions were scheduled in advance, they are a limited—but still potentially negative—signal.

PayPal Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.